One: The Biggest, Independent Digital Movie Ever Made

Page 5

 

 

 

 

Orin arrives at the welcome ball for new first-terms.

The Thursday before the shoot, Tomaric called the school's drama department to confirm the details. "The drama teacher got on the phone and said, 'I'm not convinced of the legitimacy of your project. I told all the kids that there is no such movie and everything is canceled.' "

The shoot was to be on Sunday and Jason was in a pinch. "That Friday, we mobilized this massive, movie-extra force. We worked our way through every high school in Northeast Ohio. I went to every band, every choir, every drama department and begged them to come and be extras in this movie.

“Now you did this [movie] on a $20,000 budget? It looks like a multi-million dollar production!” —Wayne Dawson, WJW Fox8 morning show host

The day of the shoot arrived. Jason and his crew set up at the Courthouse, but were on tenterhooks as to whether there would be any crowd to shoot the crowd scene. "Eleven-thirty rolled around and one person showed up. I said, 'Yes! We have a person!' Then, a couple of minutes later, a second person arrived. I was thinking, 'Can we shoot the scenes? Can we cheat the shot with these two people?' I looked at the crew and said, 'All right, if we're stuck, you guys can wear the tuxes and we'll cheat the shot. We'll make it look like there are hundreds of people, even though there are only twenty.' Then five people arrived. Then ten."

By twelve-thirty there were three hundred and fifty costumed extras, one-hundred-and-fifty spectators, and twenty-five crew members ready to take the first shot of One.

Hovercraft pilots receive the distress call from New Athens of attacking rebel forces.

From the beginning days of filming, One has received a lot of press attention. Articles about Tomaric and his movie have been sprinkled across the newspapers of Northern Ohio. One of these articles caught the attention of special-effects artist, Greg McDougall. "I read this article and it said all this stuff about mutants and frozen bodies and science fiction. I thought, whoa! I have got to get on this film."
So, McDougall tracked down Jason's number and gave him a call. "I said I can do special effects. I can do make-up. I can do props."

McDougall studied at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. "Jason was really polite, but said he pretty much had everybody he needed for effects. I knew that was BS." By the time Greg had contacted him, Tomaric had received dozens of phone-calls from people hoping to join the film. He had his cast and crew, so he was reluctant to bring anyone else in on the project. Still, McDougall continued calling.

"I admired Jason for having a big budget vision on very limited funds. I knew I could bring a lot to his film, but he just wasn't giving me a chance. So, I persisted. I kept calling him and calling him." It got to the point where Tomaric had his family screen his calls. Still, McDougall would not relent. Unable to shake him, Tomaric finally gave McDougall the number to the movie's production coordinator, Michelle Gellar.

"I said to Michelle, this guy, McDougall, is going to call you. He's been a pain in my butt. Deal with him. Tell him we don't need his help. Just get rid of him because he is annoying the daylights out of me." Instead, Gellar gave the special effects artist a chance. She was so impressed by his work that she invited him to the next staff meeting. Thrilled at being invited to a meeting, McDougall went fully prepared with his extensive portfolio. Michelle introduced Greg to the movie's director, but Jason was less than pleased. Greg recalls, "He just got this look on his face. If looks could kill, I'd be dead." "I was going to kill him!" Tomaric agrees. "He said, 'Wait, just give me a chance. Just give me five minutes and if you don't want to work with me, I'll leave.' So I sat down next to him and he pulled out his portfolio. My jaw hit the ground. I was so impressed because he did this amazing, Hollywood-quality work."

Go to Page 1 2 3 4 6 7


Post a message in the Digital Post Production World Wide User Group!